Belgravia London Walking Tour Part 2 | Homes of London's Rich and Famous

Hi all, and welcome back. Sinead here with Free Tours by Foot London. I've just come out of   the back of Victoria Station. Welcome to part two of London Victoria. Now, we're gonna sneak around   some very exclusive residential houses in London. I want to show you the homes of the rich and famous   and that will take us around to a secret pub. I want to show you so these little back alleys and   back streets are what we're all about. So, enjoy the  tour join me on a little trip around Belgravia and   straight back in and around to victoria station. Hope you enjoy the tour. We start the tour here   outside Victoria Station then we'll head into the neighborhood of Belgravia where we were passed by   the street where Mozart composed his very first symphony at the tender age of eight. Next,    we stop at Chester Square where Margaret Lady Thatcher once lived before heading to the serene   Eaton Square Gardens. We will then sneak into a hidden back alley lined with former horse stables   now converted to homes and where we will find a quaint and tucked away London pub. And finally,   we'll take a walk along the outer walls of Buckingham Palace Gardens before ending the tour   in the lovely Grosvenor Gardens. So, as I've mentioned, I've just exited the back of London   victoria station at victoria station at the train  station serving the overground the underground   however the victoria coach station i'm just  going to step out on the road here i'll get   in trouble if you see that clock tower at the end  right across the road is victoria coach station   now victoria coach station serves the buses and  buses that will head to the likes of stonehenge   and bath or windsor castle or lunch in the  cotswolds so don't confuse the two victoria coats   station right across from that clock tower i'm in  the center of an island right now in the middle of   the road so i can't step out for fear of being  knocked down and victoria train search station   which serves trains to brighton to chattan also  you have the gatwick express and it is one of   the biggest train stations second busiest train  stations in london i believe in 2019 85 million   people went through london victoria station  also as the gatwick express and the underground   deserves there are the circle line the district  line and the victoria line now this is part two   of my london victoria i'll feature a little bit  more about victoria station but for right now   let's head down into belgravia and the street i'm  taking here is eccleston street and i want to take   you into some of the most exclusive residential  properties in london now these buildings some   of these buildings are over 200 years old and  you'll recognize them immediately very beautiful   residential houses by the white stucco facade on  the front of the building but just to give you a   little bit of the atmosphere around here you have  some wonderful little outdoor restaurants there   are a lot of beautiful michelin star restaurants  in this area it's also great for a cup of coffee   the area itself serves and is one of the  massive transportation hubs in london   and for that reason you plenty of pubs  bars and restaurants the weary traveler   coming from either the coach station or if it's  just general commuters in the area outdoor dining   is what's happening in london at the moment as you  can see people are enjoying the outdoor terraces i've mentioned this before and i don't want  to keep saying it but on may 17th is the next   phase of reopening in london and you will be  able to go indoors as well as the outdoors   so london alive now this is one of  the most beautiful streets in london   this is ebery street i'll  show you up here the sign it's on this very street in belgravia where sir ian fleming lived  the author of james bond   and some other very interesting history about  the area this is also where a very young boy   at the tender age of eight called wolfgang  amadeus at number 180 visitor ebry street   composed his very first symphony he was on  an international music tour with his family   around europe and had spent some time here  in his later years as well mozart spent time in soho as an adult on fifth street   and if you're interested we just did a common  garden tour so they had lodgings here on ebry   street and also lodgings and cecil court in  around and close to the covent garden area   now what defines a lot of these beautiful houses  are a lot of them have muse at the back and mews   just means street stables at the backs of  these houses but over here is chester square   now the reason i'm taking you down here   is this property the majority of this land  around here some of the most exclusive land in   london belgravia and mayfair is owned by a family  called the grosvenor family grosvenor so g-r-o-s   v-e-n-o-r and in the 1660s a chap called thomas  grosvenor married a young girl called mary davis   and she had a massive dowry and he acquired  a massive amount of land upon that match from   matrimony here in london and most of those lands  are around here in chester square all of the   belgravia area so it is the property all of these  properties are of the duke of westminster they're   usually like 99 year leases but these homes go  for anything from 17 million up to 25 million   right down this very street in chester square  is where's the former home just for that behind   that range rover actually i'm pretty sure it's  the one there where you see with the little   glass lamp in the front looks like a gas lamp  the front of the house was the home of margaret   lady thatcher but not only that you had the likes  of lawrence olivier vivian lee joan collins roger   moore sean connery winston churchill nancy de  olios van gogh and erickson roman abramovich   the russian billionaire and the owner  of chelsea football club here in london   he doesn't own one property down here  he actually owns two and he knocked   them into one beautiful palatial home with an  estimated worth you guys of 150 million pounds   chump change to a billionaire now we're  also know that the duke of westminster   so getting back to the grosvenor family their  official title is the duke of westminster and   it usually works like the firstborn son becomes  the duke of westminster and they exist since 1660.   the present duke of westminster lives in the  next square i'm approaching in just a moment   but there's something specific i  want to show you on the pillars here   so they are the wealthiest english family in the  world they're worth an estimated 10 billion pounds   the duke of moist minister presley is the youngest  on record in history he's only 29 years of age   his name is hugh grosvenor there's  any single ladies in the house   he is very well connected and he is a cousin of  the royal family he's in fact one of the seven   god parents of little prince george now why do i  keep focusing on this well the reason i'm focusing   on this is this is the squiggly w to represent  the sign westminster or duke of westminster   and this is on the pillar here because the duke  of westminster in the 1930s was a chap called   hugh grosvenor as well and he had a 10-year  long passionate affair with coco chanel you guys   and he put these up all over central london  declaring his undying devotion to coco chanel   now i'm not quite sure how happy his wife was the  duchess at the time as he was married at the time   but the mother of the duke of westminster is the  godmother of prince william as well as she will   become a count a dowager contest when the duke of  westminster marries his own wife who will become   the duchess of westminster so this is probably  one of the most exclusive this is eaton square   now eaton square exclusivity is determined  by its proximity to buckingham palace because   everybody wants to live next door to the  queen and these beautiful gardens you see here   are exclusive private gardens for the residents  and staff of the neighborhood accessible only   by key you'll be familiar with these kind of  types of gardens if you saw the movie notting   hill you know where hugh grant famously tries to  climb over the railings and says oopsie daisies   this gentleman is obviously working here he's  dressed very well in his bowler hat and suit   we'll head around here and we'll  get a closer look at the gardens   so eaton square is home to the  present duke of westminster as well   and i believe so i've been told it's  the london residence of jk rowling who has done rather well for herself in the  last few years let me get you a little idea   of the insides of these parks unfortunately i  can't go in not a resident well not yet anyway   so if you're enjoying the tour so far why  don't you go ahead and click that like button   and help others discover this video and if you  would like to watch more walking tour videos   like this one then also consider subscribing to  our channel and click that notification bell so   that you don't miss any new videos in addition to  walking tour videos we also offer videos on london   travel tips as well as videos covering day  trips from london and if you have any place   that you would like to see us offer a video  tour of then leave your suggestions in the   comments section below and lastly if you'd like  to buy your tour guide a pint or a cup of coffee   links to do so are also in the description  below now back to the tour and this road   would lead you straight down then  towards sloane square and chelsea   this direction which will be going in that  direction would head you back down towards   buckingham palace now oh i forgot to mention you  guys see this beautiful home here on the corner   that is the home of the famous actress  jonah collins it's a rather nice house so one of the most exclusive residential  areas in london i'll get a closer look at   some of the properties now in just a moment  so we're going to walk straight up here and we'll walk down this road i believe the  belgian government were held here in exile as well   after world war ii and there's quite a few  embassies right down the end of this street   it's known as embassy roll and it's grosvenor   square i believe but we'll head down there another  day so now we are back here again in eaton square   so let's have a little look at the  front of these beautiful houses   that i will never ever be able to afford but  alas who knows might win the euromillions okay we'll get you another good view of the  gardens in a second that's the bolivian embassy   there you guys so there are quite a few embassies  and offices along here now now a lot of these   properties properties have been converted into  apartments as well so apart from the super rich   it's still a very expensive place to rent  in london but aren't these homes amazing   probably one of my favorite places in  london is around here at eaton square now here's another little view into the  gardens and we'll see what the rules and   regulations are one of the gardens along  here there are six in total key gardens   and just make out the rules and regulations there please observe the following rules access  for register key holders only close the   gates children under 10 must be accompanied by an  adult no ball games bicycles or noisy activities   plants must not be picked excuse me isn't it quite ironic that these  buildings can go for 17 million and they   don't even have their own front gardens  or back gardens but alas the private   gardens behind me are the alternative for them  lovely gentlemen very well dressed number 114   that's the beautiful eaton square ladies and gents  home to the rich and famous prime ministers and   politicians alike now we're coming up here  on the church in the area classical indesign let me just cross over the road  and i'll bring you right there this is saint peter's church this beautiful  church on the corner so designed by henry   hakewell during the first phase of the  development of eaton square in 1820   sorry sorry you guys i just had uh to  speak to a gentleman there he wants to   know he's obviously security for one of those  buildings probably one of the embassies and   he wanted to know why i was filming around  here so which is perfectly understandable uh   in the world we live in today and it's not  unusual for something like that to happen   so um i'm back anyway that's the most important  thing so um as i was mentioning so this was um   henry hayquill this church was it's got six  columned porticos and the clock tower here   but it's what you kind of associate  with those high society weddings   you guys those high society weddings that you'd  see in the movies like four weddings and a funeral   you know they come here on sundays all dressed  out in their amazing clothes and their sunday best   top hats and tales the  parish church of saint peter   now i want to take a little detour because  this is part two of my london victoria tour   so at this stage you will be ready for a nice  pint of british ale perhaps a gin and tonic in a quieter area now you have wonderful  places and loads of restaurants and   bars to eat around victoria but  this one's one of my hidden gems   and again i was shown this years ago by the  gentleman who trained me in london and i   honestly believe he is the best expert in london  i've ever come across and a wonderful character   mr robert goodman i will get bob to give us a  little meander around london one of these days   but he brought us down here  just to show us this little   hidden way gem of a pub again we're  heading down a muse called wilton news and it leads to little chester street so all these  little street stables that they formerly were   very exclusive residences now were all well converted into beautiful  homes enviable address around here and right down here this little gem hidden away  off the beaten track so if you're interested   in that real local london experience this  is where you come to the horse and groom all cobbled streets along here  so preferably walking shoes   i think a lot of us ladies  have got cut out before with uh   high heels and cobbles they don't really  work very well together yeah there is   my home in london unites there's the irish embassy the irish embassy down here  this beautiful quaint little   pub called the horse and groom now i  don't want to go straight down there   because i don't want to annoy the people that  are having a lovely little drink around there but that little hidden gem in london the  horse and groom right at the back of belgravia i didn't want to interfere too much  they're all looking at me as if   i'm invading their privacy so  essentially i kind of am but it's on   groom place in southwest london in the city of  westminster now this will take us back out onto the street which has the highly  fortified walls of buckingham   palace now look at the frontages  of these houses here along the way how beautiful they are and how tall they are so originally these types of buildings with all  these floors the servants would be the very top   floor usually in the attic rooms the kitchens  were always down in the basement and they were   kept away from the people of the house the lady  or the lord of the house or the manor to muff out   all smells and noises kitchen life and activity  didn't make the service jobs very easy however   having to run all the way up maybe three flights  of stairs carrying huge pewter dishes to serve   the family who were the dining  room is usually situated maybe   on the second floor of these buildings and  then the first floor or the third floor rather   would have been the accommodations of the children  and the family themselves master bedroom the   gentleman's dressing room and the ladies dressing  room attached this gorgeous little chest are close   private in there so not accessible to me  also known as grosvenor private news these   beautiful homes and you can see why it's such a  desirable address because right in front of you   behind those walls the highly fortified  walls are the gardens of buckingham palace they are the largest private  gardens in central london 40 acre gardens of buckingham palace we're currently on grovner place these are the walls surrounding the gardens at  buckingham palace and if you go in that direction   straight up following that bus you come  to hyde park corner which we already   have a tour done up at duka wellington  place and straight down here brings you   straight into london victoria and the entrance  to buckingham palace now i'm not going to be   honest i'm going to have to walk through  here but i can talk to you a little bit about the gardens spare with me a second  not ideal commander construction site so they're the largest private gardens in  central london the 40 acre gardens of bucky   and palace have an olympic-sized swimming pool a  post office a helipad a doctor surgery a tennis   courts and a swimming pool all on the grounds  the queen also has her own post office by the way   on the grand slovakian palace and has her  groceries and her mail delivered daily   by horse and carriage i'm sorry about this  lack of scenery here but i couldn't cross   the road you guys but we're nearly out a handy  tip for you because a lot of people like to   if you write to the queen or send her  a birthday card or a christmas card   you will always get a response now  i'm not saying it's the queen herself but it's definitely one of her ladies in waiting  we'll respond to you so that would be exciting to   get a notice in buckingham palace in the post  and as we're approaching the palace up here   you will see these two little  quaint cottages right in the corner   get a little closer they're the hansel and gretel  cottages they've been nicknamed by londoners oops she came out of nowhere up the side she's lucky i didn't sideswerve and you see these  little cottages with the chimneys just on the left   these are the grace in favor apartments  of the ground stuff of buckingham palace   what a great part to the job free  accommodation on the grounds you guys get a better view of  them here now in just a second there you have them right behind the walls there this used to be on my open top  bus routes you guys around london   so they're the racing favor apartments  you'll just make them out there   a little two sweet cottages right there now  you'll see the high the walls are highly fortified   and to be fair you would think somebody would have  to be slightly insane with all that barbed wire   and cameras to attempt to breach its security   but it did happen and it happened on more than one  occasion in the 1980s was the most serious breach   let's have a look again michael fagan  scale those walls he got into the grounds   and there's 775 rooms in buckingham palace well  only he only managed to find her majesty's bedroom   he sat on the queen's bed the queen  was in her bed and he quite casually   asked the queen for a light for his cigarette now  we all know the queen famously she doesn't smoke   so she handled the situation remarkably  well and she rang down her security   asking them for like for her cigarette that's  alerted the security something was afoot   michael fagan was instantly apprehended spent  six months in the psychiatric institute and when   he was released while the truth or so were told  as he did confess to being under the influence   of magic mushrooms at the time so that's some  story for your grandchildren ladies and gents   now i just wanted to show you these  now these are actually small listed   buildings you see these little green hots  here these are cabbie refreshment stands   and they're available to you guys for the cheap  cup of coffee in a really good bacon sandwich   now these are listed around london so they're  protected and the idea behind one was years ago   when taxi cab relays were horse drawn  carriages the horses needed water   if they were to continue working throughout  the day now the problem with that was   that well the drivers of the horses essentially  were stopping at the local pub and the pubs   started to get really annoyed that they  were coming in and just using the water   and not spending any money so the taxi drivers  were then required to have a drink in order   for their horses to be allowed to drink for free  so taxi drivers ended up driving around london   with a little too many to drink shall we say  a paralytic drunk so these cabernet shelters   were actually built for the horses  and for refreshments for the cab   drivers to keep them out of the pub so  there's a little bit of history for you   and here so please make sure when you are bouncing  around don't forget they serve amazing sandwiches   and some great little breakfast you can get a full  breakfast in here but if you wanted just like a   bacon sandwich much cheaper look at the coffee is  only a pound a cup and it's a little bit of local   london history so i'm coming around the back  here of london victoria station i've already   brought you through the gardens so that  was part two of our london victoria tour   thank you again for joining me ladies and  gentlemen if you are enjoying these enjoying   these little walks around london please  don't forget to click the little red button   there and like and subscribe on our videos on  facebook and we also have a youtube channel   i assure you every subscription helps us  and particularly me as a guide and that   more views we get the more videos we can make and  it's a pleasure for me to walk around london it   feels like i'm back working again so here's london  victoria and the red bus is coming towards us   so like and subscribe you guys if you fancy buy  me a cup of coffee you're more than welcome to   do so there's a buy me a coffee link underneath  and of course to contribute to uh the mortgage   application for a home in eaton square at 17  million you can also link to my paypal but more   importantly thank you very much for joining us and  i'll see you on our next little adventure around   london during the week quite a few more tours in  the pipeline sinead in london victoria signing out

Channel: Free Tours by Foot - London

Views: 101,324

Keywords: belgravia london, london walking tour, victoria station london, euston square gardens, london walk, london walk tour, walking in london

Id: v89JIOZ32Gw

Length: 29min 57sec (1797 seconds)

Published: Thu May 20 2021